


Sun-owl Man

by KatfisH_0FisH



Series: Sun-Owl's Energy and Expressionless-san's Art [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Akaashi has a nickname for Bokuto, Artist Akaashi Keiji, Artist/Pianist AU, First Meetings, M/M, Pianist Bokuto Koutarou, Piano Concert, fluff fluff fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:49:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26245972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatfisH_0FisH/pseuds/KatfisH_0FisH
Summary: Akaashi Keiji's life, and art, are bland, especially in his own eyes.One piano concert fills his life with beauty and energy and he can't help but smile at that.Cue the energetic music!
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Series: Sun-Owl's Energy and Expressionless-san's Art [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906630
Kudos: 35





	Sun-owl Man

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy reading!

_Stroke. Stroke._

Slowly but surely, the painting in front of the man came together. For him, it had been a considerably tiring day at work. Yesterday, one man had come in looking for a paint to cover his bedroom wall and demanded that the color he chose would fit perfectly. Akaashi Keiji had tried to tell him that it would dry a few shades brighter, but the man simply waved him off, paid, and left. Today, however, he came storming in, demanding he should get a refund for not warning him. Insults flew and a few displays were knocked over before his manager stepped in. Other people in the store simply watched with pity. He hated those stares. Uncomfortable would be an understatement.

Sighing, Akaashi stood up from his stool to observe his painting from a distance. _It looks all right_ , he guesses. No matter what he wounds up painting, there always seems to be a bland feel to them. In some, it would be barely noticeable, but in others, well, bland would suit them to a T.

A buzzing sound snaps him out of his thoughts. Glancing around, his eyes fall on his phone on the table across the living room. _Must be Kenma._

Surely enough, Kenma’s face is on the screen in all his gaming glory. He swipes to answer.

“Hey Kenma. What’s up?”

“Hey Akaashi. You free this weekend?” Kenma says with a weary tone in his voice.

“Yeah, pretty much. I only plan on painting for a few hours that day.” _He probably needs me to go somewhere with him._

“Great. Kuroo gave me two tickets to another one of his concerts. Said it would be a special one this time or something.”

Akaashi smirks at this. Kuroo for sure knows how to get Kenma’s attention on him. “Oh, definitely. It’s going to be a special one after all, eh?”

“Sheesh, I can see your smirk already. It’s not like that okay?” Kenma pleads. His tone gives his blush away and Akaashi can’t help but feel successful.

“Whatever you say. The other day you called me and said, and I quote ‘he looks like an adorable rooster.’ Apparently, roosters can be adorable too now.”

The line is silent on the other side for a few moments before he hears a sigh of defeat. His smile grows wider at that.

“So you’re coming right?”

“Yeah. Can’t say that I’ll be interested like any of the other times, but I’ll go. What time?”

Two days later.

Akaashi’s eyes flutter open but intense light makes him squeeze his eyes back shut. Groaning, he sits up and glances at his clock. 11:20. Blinking a few times, the gears in his brain finally snap together. _Crap._

Springing out of bed, he takes a brief shower, scrubs his teeth, and drags a brush through his curly hair before tossing it aside. Throwing open his closet, he gives it a quick scan before haphazardly throwing on a green shirt with a light blue denim jacket over top. Just as he pulls up his dark blue jeans to accompany his outfit, his doorbell rings.

Frantically searching for his phone, wallet, and keys, he pockets them quickly before whipping open the door. Glancing down, he sees Kenma looking back up at him. Without his handheld gaming console at that.

“You just woke up, didn’t you?” Kenma asks.

“More or less so.” He deadpans in return.

“Let’s go. I don’t want to wait in a long line.” Kenma turns and starts walking down the hallway. Akaashi quickly locks his door before catching up with the short man.

“No gaming console today, I see? I swear, I believed that you and it were glued together.” He prods once they fall into step with one another. Looking down, he sees Kenma’s head turned away from him. Sighing, he starts again. “Kenma, you may be hard to read at times, but there really is no hiding something when you don’t bring the handheld gaming console. Just, take your relationship with Kuroo at a pace you’re comfortable at. If anything, I’ve seen Kuroo sneak a couple of fond looks at you. No need to be so uptight, alright?”

Kenma murmurs something incoherent in return before giving a slight nod. Walking out the apartment complex, they head towards Kenma’s car to start the twenty-minute drive to the concert hall.

Fukurodani Hall is one of the more impressive concert halls there are. The high ceilings give a spacious but comfortable feel to the venue. Pale white lights line the edges of the balcony layers, rows, and the edge of the stage. A singular grand piano sat elegantly atop the stage, basking in all the glory of the stage lights. Settling into his seat, Akaashi feels incredibly comfortable, refreshed, and attentive. Kenma apparently got tickets for one of the better seats indeed. Front and center on the lowest balcony layer. For sure.

Glancing back at Kenma, he sees the short man slowly taking in the venue. He watches people fill in and settle down, not once sparing Akaashi a look. He’s nervous all right.

The time quickly passes when Akaashi busies himself with his phone. He manages to read half of an alien conspiracy article when the lights begin to dim. Shutting off his phone, he glances at Kenma one last time before setting his concentration on the stage.

Time passes both slowly and quickly in the concert. Even with his lack of musical knowledge, he admits that this is one of the better concerts he’s gone to. Of course, they’re all professional pianists, but still. Each pianist takes up their own interpretation of the songs that he’s heard before. It makes him feel, embrace, and even sympathize. Some pieces have flair and excitement while others have a mellow yet solemn melody. Not only that, each person looks so absorbed in their performance. He can’t help but feel as a distant star watching them in their own little world.

Clapping along with the audience, he watches the woman bow elegantly before exiting the stage. The next man that walks on next intrigues him. His hair is a mix of a stunning silver with black streaks, sticking up and out of his scalp. It almost reminds him of … an owl. A literal depiction of an owl in a human body. Analyzing him a bit more, his breath is quite literally taken away. His golden eyes seem to literally hold the sun in them. Even from a distance, he can tell his eyes hold energy and excitement. Quite the opposite of his own self. His eyes stay on the man as he sits down, as he stretches his hands out in front, and as he takes a deep breath. He watches the way his muscles tense and relax as he does so and the way his chest rises and falls when he breathes. He definitely watches as the man raise both his hands above the keys as if he is the ringleader, he watches as the man lowers his hands onto the keys, and when he begins to play…

Colors spring into his vision as the man’s fingers fly across the keys. The room began to fill with brilliant colors and excitement, so raw and pure. To say that man’s performance is entrancing is an understatement. He feels lighter, happier, and excited. He wants to smile and laugh with the man on the stage. The smile on the man’s face is contagious, he concludes, as he finds himself smiling a little.

He’s unaware of his friend taking a picture of his rare smile.

Flowers bloom with every note. Birds (and owls) sing along in harmony with the song as the fleeting feeling in him rises. The rest of the venue disappears altogether. A beautiful horizon takes its place so full of life and beauty. The man is the sun, giving everything around him life and spirit. He watches from the shadows, and when the shadow slowly fades, he embraces the light and energy the sun gives.

Smiling a little wider, he admires the man as he dances with the music and the keys, slowly bobbing his head as he plays. And it all ends too soon when the song comes to a closure. He loses sight of the beautiful landscape as the man leaves the stage, taking the warmth with him. The darkness of the venue wraps around him again. A jab in the side makes him wince in pain.

“The heck was that for?” he whispers forcefully.

Kenma stares back at him. “You enjoyed that for once, didn’t you?”

Akaashi gulps. He completely forgot he was here with Kenma. And he smiled. He couldn’t get out of this one. Turning his head around to avoid his stare, “Yeah.”

A few moments of silence pass. “You know, that guy’s good friends with Kuroo. I bet he’ll tag along with Kuroo when we meet up after the concert.”

“Your implication?”

“Maybe you should get to know him? I’ve only seen you like that when you’re really sappy happy. And that’s extremely rare. You should get to know him.”

Akaashi stews over his words. He barely registers Kuroo walking on stage as the last performer. He doesn’t hear the song that he plays but knows it would probably be an impressive performance. He barely notices Kenma’s rare excitement. _Should he meet this sun-owl? Would they be friends? Would he be okay with me as a friend?_

The pale white lights drag him out of his thoughts. He stands up, albeit shaky, and follows Kenma through the crowd. Scanning the crowd for a certain “adorable rooster,” a distinctive mop of black hair is all he needs to see before he’s dragging Kenma along.

Akaashi waves. “Hey Kuroo. Nice performance. Special indeed.”

Kuroo smiles brightly. He also keeps a mental image on the oh-so-tease-able light pink blush on Kenma’s cheeks. He then realizes Kuroo isn’t alone. Standing next to him is sun-owl man.

_Sun-owl man…_

The man seems to perk up in his direction at that moment. _Crap._ Did he say that out loud?

Expecting an awkward smile in response to his slip up, he is completely unprepared for the blinding, genuine smile he gets in return. Definitely the sun.

“Hey hey! I’m Bokuto Kotarou!”

“Oh, um, I’m Akaashi. Akaashi Keiji.”

“Akaashi huh? Nice nickname you got for me. Sun-owl man. Can I ask where you got that from?”

Akaashi can feel the heat crawling up his neck. Sighing, he looks at Bokuto straight in the eye, throws on his most stoic face he could possibly conjure, and speaks the honest truth. “Your performance was beautiful, just like how the Sun would give life and energy to anything and everything.” He pauses. “Also, your hair makes you look like an owl. It’s cute.”

_Crap, crap, crap, crap!_ On the outside, his expressionless countenance doesn’t falter, but internally? A volcano is erupting with its smoke clogging up his lungs.

Bokuto seems to have been caught off guard by his answer and stutters out, “O-oh? Um, thank you.” An awkward silence surrounds them both.

Kuroo bursts out laughing. Really, really, hysterically. The two simultaneously whip their head around, boring holes into Kuroo’s skull. Kuroo, along with Kenma, would definitely not let go of his attraction to Bokuto.

He could deal with it.

Needless to say, that day, he walks home with a new contact in his phone under “Sun-owl Bokuto-san.” He hopes that they’ll soon get to know one another and maybe go beyond that.

Yeah, a beautiful hope with a beautiful sun-owl man.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, my mind has been filled with angst and pain for so many different characters, writing this is incredibly relieving. Also, I'm still a beginner writer and still new to all this fanfiction, but I'm loving this Bokuaka ship. Let's fill the tea cup with tea!
> 
> I'm definitely writing a 2nd part to this. I'm literally squeeing at my own writing. Like, when you want something but can't find it so you take it into your own hands and becomes a reality?  
> Yes please.


End file.
